Shoe-form.



No. 643,865. Patented Feb. 20,1900. v

A. n. TYLEB, ]R. I

SHOE FORM.

1Application filed Nov. :3, 1897.)

(No Ma.)

Mgw? ff zw' -UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ABEL D. TYLER, JR, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-FORM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,805, dated February 20, 1900. Application filed November 3, 1897. Serial No. 657,282. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ABEL D. TYLER, J12, of Brockton,in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Shoe-Forms, of which the following in the combination of a hollow fore part having at its rear a transverse Web with a heel part and a flexible connection for the fore part and heel part; a

In the drawings illustrating the principle of my invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle the hollow fore part A is preferably made bottomless, as shown. At its rear is a transverse web a, which serves as a brace to keep the side portions or wings a of the rear of the fore part from being crushed, bent, or warped laterally in either direction, as well as from being crushed, bent, or warped edgewise .in either direction. This web a also serves as a place of attachment of the hinge connection B (preferably a leaf-hinge, as shown) to the fore part, and its rear surface a serves as a bearing-surface for the opposed surface of the heel part D. The heel part D is preferably made hollow, as shown, without a bottom and with the transverse web 01 connecting its front end portions (1. The outer surface of this web (1 serves as a reciprocal bearing-surface for the bearing-surface a of the fore part, the contact of these two surfaces keeping the fore part and heel part from collapsing bot-tomward. This brace 01 also serves as a place of attachment of the flexible connection 13 to the heel part. The webs a and d are preferably of the same height, so that if a leaf-hinge is used to articulate the fore part and heel part the leaves I) of the hinge may be readily secured, respectively,

to the top surface of the webs, as shown. In any event it is highly desirable to mount the connection B in or above theline of pressure between the heel and toe tending to collapse the last, so that the inherent tendency of the shoe to shorten by the upward curvature of the toe portion will not collapse the last topward. The location of the hinge also allows the form to shorten when the heel part is moved upward and forward, the upper portion of the form being properly cut away to permit this shortening to facilitate the insertion and removal of the last. The leaves I) are preferably made with lateral projections 19, which fit in cross-grooves d on the upper surfaces of the webs a and d, as shown. This construction facilitates the assembling of the parts and greatly relieves the fastenings b from strain and consequent tendency to work loose when the heel part is pulled to remove the form from the shoe.

This preferred form of my new shoe-form is readily made of wood, but maybe made of metal or various compositions. It is light in weight, yet strong and durable, and is advantageously used for carrying drummers samples and for displaying and keeping shoes in shape.

While the form is preferably made bottomless, as shown, it may be formed with a bottom, if desired, or bridged over in the usual manner. The heel part may be solid, if desired.

What I claim is-.-

In a last, the combination of a fore part chambered from the bottom upwardly and having an integral transverse rib at its rear end, with a chambered heel part having an integral transverse rib at its front end, and a hinge the leaves of which are respectively attached to said ribs; the heel part having at its rear end a thickened Wall provided with a pin-hole. I In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 21st day of October, A. D. 1897.

ABEL D. TYLER, JR.

Witnesses:

EDWARD S. BEACH, E. A. ALLEN. 

